The Sinclair Community College Jazz Ensemble will present its second performance of the season on Friday, Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. Director Bruce Jordan will serve as a featured saxophonist.
“The people that have never come to a Sinclair Jazz Ensemble concert, they’re always saying it’s a best-kept secret,” Jordan said. “They really enjoy it.”
The ensemble
The ensemble presents four concerts a year and is made up of student, faculty and community performers, according to Jordan. Though a student does not need to be a music major to play with the ensemble, Jordan said he prefers that ensemble players have a college-level skill on their instrument before joining.
Jordan believes people who enjoy playing jazz also enjoy challenges because of the skill level required for improvisation.
“There’s nothing more challenging in music than composing in real time,” Jordan said. “It’s what jazz improvisation is all about.”
The performance
Jordan, who has played the saxophone since fifth grade, believes that everything in music is related to performance.
“I am most alive and happiest and most joyful when I’m on the stage performing,” he said.
The concert lineup includes songs by jazz legends such as pianist Herbie Hancock, trumpeter Miles Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane.
“For a saxophone section, ‘Giant Steps’ (by John Coltrane) is a really good thing to do,” Jordan said.
The joy of jazz
Jordan believes there is one particular jazz album that everyone should own.
“There’s an album that’s sold platinum after platinum after platinum…and it’s ‘Kind of Blue’ by Miles Davis, and John Coltrane is on that album,” Jordan said. “Miles (Davis) is a top trumpet name in jazz, and (John) Coltrane is a top name in jazz.”
Jordan also believes that the best of albums can never compare to a live jazz performance.
“There’s just nothing like the connection between the audience and the ensemble,” he said.